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The Writer's Fight Ahead

Brian Brett, winner of BC's literary Lieutenant Governor's Award, on his duty to 'confront the world.'

Brian Brett 19 May 2012TheTyee.ca

Brian Brett is an award-winning writer who lives on Salt Spring Island, B.C. He is the latest recipient of British Columbia's Lieutenant Governor's Award for literary excellence.

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Brett: 'Culture matters because culture is us.'

[Editor's note: The Tyee congratulates Brian Brett for winning the ninth annual Lieutenant Governor's Award for Literary Excellence, which recognizes the contribution of notable B.C. writers. Brett was honoured at the May 12 B.C. Book Prizes gala, and his acceptance speech is reprinted with permission below.]

I think my first big surprise was the day I was born. There's been many since. This is a special surprise for a couple of reasons. First, it really was a surprise! When I received the phone call asking if I was willing to speak to the lieutenant-governor, I thought it was just part of the usual spam deluge. Fortunately, this original premise for a spam spiked my interest, so I said yes, out of curiosity, and 'lo, it was the lieutenant-governor. I can actually say that I was speechless for one of the very few times in my life.

And then how surprising to see the award citation by George Bowering, with whom, years ago, I used to sword fight hilariously across Canada over various arcane literary issues that neither of us can even remember any more. Today, we can only laugh at how petty those disputes when faced with the greater issues of the world, and baseball, and good literature.

But the real thrill of this prize is that it also celebrates those who support the cultural community. I guess I was born this way. I was never the boy who lied to my mother. I was the boy who lectured my mother. More than six decades and 11 books, hundreds-maybe-thousands of articles and essays later, I can't seem to stop.

All I see is what's ahead. The never-ending war against the legislated ignorance of censorship, the copyright legislation quagmire that could hand our culture to multinationals and expropriation without compensation to educational institutions, while making it too financially onerous for young writers to quote the words of our era for the first time in history.

The thrillingly delicious threat and promise of ebooks. The fact that despite everything thrown at it our culture survives gallantly. It's a wild world to ride.

Asking questions

Being a writer doesn't just mean sitting in your room. It means confronting the world surrounding that room. The petty cultural and human cruelties of a government with a tar sands mentality -- as if afraid that its ignorance will be discovered. The Franken-climate we will be leaving to our children. Local real food in local real communities versus factory agriculture and factory food, which was the subject of my last book, Trauma Farm. The delivery of public services to foreign corporate interests. Human rights legislation steering dangerously close to forced 'cultural re-education' mandated by star chambers. Libel chill. The dangerous, unprecedented collection and manipulation of our personal information by Big Brothers -- Google and Facebook. Being a writer means asking questions. Like why hasn't a woman won this award since its inauguration?

Yet when the businesses and corporations are all dusty footnotes, it is our artists that will be remembered. Culture matters because culture is us. And we have made and are still making a great culture. Just look at the literature here today for this award. Many triumphs.

Thank you to the committee, to Sharon, my great publishers, and to our terrific literary community for their support.

After nearly 45 years of taking suicidal runs at the walls of indifference, clueless arrogance, and the few moments of utter bliss where we do win, I can see there's still a long road ahead and I intend to walk it as long as I can... with your grace...  [Tyee]

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